Sherlock eyed her the entire time. She could tell he was itching to hear her story and was fighting to maintain his patience as she prepared her tea. Once she had finally settled in John old chair, tea cup to her lips, he leaned forward to place his elbows on his knees and rested his chin on his outstretched fingers.

"Well…." Sherlock spoke as soon as she pulled the mug away from her mouth, before she even set it down.

"My father was widowed when I was little and he raised us on his own, with help from his sister, but we were never well off. When I got to uni, I didn't have time for a normal job, so I worked as a prostitute." Sherlock froze at this revelation and nervously adjusted in his chair before urging her to go on. "I met Liam at a club, I was actually looking for clients, passing out a card…. I really wasn't well versed in marketing myself, but I was doing what I knew. I didn't give him a card because I was interested in him. We dated a while. About a month in, I told him what I was doing. He was mad. Not because I was prostituting, but because he wasn't profiting from it. He said when we decided to be together, I became his. I found out he knew I was a prostitute, because I hadn't learned how to be discrete enough, and he was actually… Liam is involved in human trafficking. He beat me. I serviced a few clients for him, but I ended up getting away from him. Which lead to the first time he stalked me. I had to quit working and find something else. It was hard, very hard. He ruined my life. He raped me several times and even broke my arm in the process once. The last time I saw him, before he went to trial and to prison, he had these two men kidnap me… they were who I killed. He was going to send me off to god knows where. Prague? Moscow? Bangkok? I'm not sure of his plan, but he was going to sell me." She took a breath and another sip of tea. "I honestly didn't want to believe it was him, but when he killed Lynn." Molly took a second to compose herself. "I thought the triangles, x's and hearts were just a sick coincidence… they're love symbols and those women were his sick love notes to me…. and Lynn was my friend… the unmarked victim. A homeless prostitute. I took her food sometimes, I've let her use my shower when she hasn't been able to use one in a hotel for too long and things like that…. that girl you saved was my cousin.. thank you for that."

"Thats why she looked so very much like you." Molly nodded.

"We were raised like siblings, her, my brother and me."

"How'd she end up…"

"My aunt killed herself after my dad died… she didn't know what else to do, so she followed me but she fell down the rabbit hole and couldn't or wouldn't get out… got addicted to drugs and such. Haven't seen her in ages. Her name is Madeline." There was a very long pause before either of them spoke again. "Do you want your coat back?"

"You know where she is?"

"I think so."

She made the cab stop about a block and a half away from the safe house and they walked, saying nothing, until it came into view and Molly had stopped to stare.

"That window." She pointed to the top floor. "That was the room he had me in when he was trying to keep me…" Molly licked her lips. "I had to jump out of it, in the end, to get away. He didn't suspect I'd do anything like that."

"Conspicuous escape route for him to give you access to. Idiot." Finally turning to meet his eyes, she spoke very matter-of-factly.

"He's was a misogynistic, hateful piece of shit that tried to sell me into sexual slavery."

"Right." A small feminine voice called Molly's name from the doorway.

"What are you doing here? If they see you…."

"I'm here to see Maddy, Dot. It'll be fine." Unconsciously, she reached over and grabbed Sherlocks hand and the frail blond ushered them into the house.

"You!" Another woman's voice called and thundering footsteps came towards them, for such a petite woman, Maddie could sure throw her weight around; stomping and shaking the floor beneath them.

"Maddy, I just came back for my friends coat." Molly explained, calmly and squeezed Sherlocks hand.

"He obviously has more." She noted he was wearing a nearly identical coat to the one she had.

"Maddy, if you need a jacket," the pathologist took off hers. "Take this one. I'll trade you. This one is more form fitting anyway." The woman hesitated for a moment, but walked away and returned with Sherlocks coat. Insisting on the trade, she wouldn't hand it over until she had Molly's first.

"You ruin everything you know."

"No,I don't. You just don't want help. And thats fine. It's your business now."

This struck a fierce cord with her cousin and the more volatile of the two clawed at the other. Sherlock reached out to grab Maddie's hand, but found Molly was much faster than he in this instance. The other woman was already lying on the floor, beneath one of Molly's shoes. "NEVER EVER hit me." Was all she said, before releasing the woman and walking out of the house with Sherlock.

"You were attacked a lot." He almost whispered when the house was out of site. "When you were… a working girl."

"A few times… I also took a martial art all the way through school and took more self defense after I was… victimized the first time."

"I had no idea."

"Well, now you do." They hadn't been looking at each other the entire walk, but at this point, Sherlock draped his extra coat over Molly's shoulders and put his hand on the small of her back, guiding her back to the main road where they could hail a cab.

"So, Molly is still staying here." John asked from his chair in 221B.

"Yes." The doctor smiled behind the newspaper he was reading.

"Whats…uh…. going on between you two, anyway?" Sherlock shrugged and hid in his magazine on the couch. "Are you two….?"

"Are we what, John?"

"I dunno… together?" The detective shifted uncomfortably.

"What exactly do you mean by that?"

"Are you dating?"

"No."

"Well, she lives here… are you shagging?" When the detective gave no answer, John's face became serious. "No."

"No, what John?"

"No, what? Look this is Molly, Sherlock. Molly. You can't use her like you used Janine. Its not right."

"Who said I was using her?" He lazily thumbed through the pages, not really reading anything.

"Well, you have a long history of using people in general, but especially Molly." John sighed and finally completely set his paper down. "So, what kind of case is it this time? huh?"

"There is no case."

"So, you shagging Molly is nothing like you shagging Janine?"

"No, its not."

"How is it not, Sherlock?"

"Well, I was never really… intimate with Janine." Silence again.

"Seriously?"

"No, I never did anything like that with her… she did try though."

"You took a bath and slept in the same bed with her."

"I never took a bath with Molly before we became… intimate… but she… was there for me when you couldn't be after I…uh…faked my death and we did share the same bed several times before anything escalated."

"So… you and Molly are… together." Sherlock sat up and placed his magazine on the table.

"I don't know what we are, John. I'm not sure I even understand it just yet."

While his friend did scoff a bit, he did nod and give him an understanding smile before dropping the subject completely.